Saturday is Horror Day #125 - Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings, Deliver Us From Evil (doc)

 Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings

A group of college students on a snowmobile trip get some bad directions and end up taking shelter at an abandoned sanitarium...where it all began.

I am going to save some trouble and cut to the chase now. I couldn't even finish this one. Since I sat through both 2 & 3, which were horrendous, this has to say something. The focus (at least, of what I saw) was exploring the couples' various sexual exploits, including one lesbian couple. Never mind they're stuck in this creepy, abandoned, filthy building, they all want to get their groove on. 

My advice is to do what I'm doing. Skip this one and jump ahead to the next.

Deliver Us From Evil (doc)

The brave survivors of priestly sexual abuse step forward to talk about what happened to them in this documentary by Amy Berg. Their families are present as well, having suffered from what was done to their loved ones. The surprise here is that the priest also speaks - candidly and openly - about what he did to those children. And it is clear to see by his expression, in his voice, and the casual air he maintains, that he is not truly sorry for what he has done.

Father Oliver O'Grady (Father Ollie to those close to him) was accused during the 1970s of horrendous acts against children. But, as has come to be expected of the Catholic Church, rather than do anything about the problem, they simply relocated him - to another parish, with other children! And the abuse would start again. Of course there are those higher ups who claim they didn't really know. As if they would admit to it. This story is indicative of the Catholic desire to gloss over the abuses of their own, and simply pay out hush money to the victims.

Father Ollie was finally taken to court, received fourteen years, served seven, and was deported to Ireland, where he runs around happy as a lark and fancy free - freely among children.

This is an eye-opening and disturbing documentary which will make you question why this church gets away with so much. Kudos to the brave survivors who dared to tell their stories. I give this film 4.5 Stars

Saturday is Horror Day #52 - Deliver Us From Evil, Fantasy Island

 Deliver Us From Evil

Hitman In-nam (Jung-min Hwang) is ready to pack it in and retire to the sunny beaches of Panama. He agrees to one last hit for his boss and takes out a Japanese mobster.  While on the job, he receives a call from his ex wanting his help, but he doesn't have time for her. The next day he learns that she has been killed and her nine-year-old daughter is missing. On top of that, the mobster he killed has a younger brother, Ray (Lee Jung-jae) who will stop at nothing to avenge his death.

This business just got personal.

In-nam follows the trail of the kidnappers to Thailand where he engages the services of a guide, a 

transwoman named Yui (Jeong Min Park).Learning that the children are being stolen for their body organs, In-nam and Yui pose as a couple who are in search of a kidney. They find a group of children who are locked-up, waiting to be sold, but Yoo-min (So-yi Park) is not among them. They continue to follow the trail, even as they are being pursued by Ray, intent on killing the man who killed his brother.

This film starts off a bit slow, and at first I was a little confused as to who was doing what and why, but the pace picked up and I finally caught on. For fans of Squid Game, be prepared to see Gi-Hun in a much different light as the tatted vengeful killer. 

I thought Jeong Min Park did a great job as Yui and Lee Jung-jae was sexy as Ray. It was a good film, very enjoyable. I give it a solid 4 Stars. I found another film that Jung-min Hwang and Lee Jung-jae are in together, called New World, and I plan to watch it too.

Fantasy Island

Have you ever wanted to change a past decision? To take the road not taken? To undo an old regret? Then come to Fantasy Island, where you can live out your fantasy... to its natural conclusion.

Gwen (Maggie Q) regrets the day she didn't say yes to the marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Robbie (Allen Chambers). But you can't go back and changes things... or can you?

Melanie (Lucy Hale) has had revenge on her mind ever since high school when she was tormented on a daily basis by Sloane (Portia Doubleday). All of the bad things in her life stem from that time, and she wants nothing more than to get revenge on Sloane, and see her tortured as she once was.

JD and Brax (Ryan Hansesn and Jimmy O. Yang) are brothers, although nobody believes them since Brax is Asian. But JD's father married Brax's mother when Brax was still in diapers, and they've been close over since. Now their biggest fantasy is to have it all...

Patrick (Austin Stowell) always wanted to join the military but never did, for personal reasons. The closest he ever came to performing service was to become a policeman. Now he fantasizes about being an actual soldier

What do they have in common? They've all just arrived on Fantasy Island.

Fantasy Island is a place where dreams and fantasies can come true. But always be aware of the old adage... be careful what you wish for. The host of Fantasy Island is the enigmatic Mr. Roarke *Michael Pena). He is there to see to his guests comfort as they fulfill their fantasies. There are only two rules on the island. One is that there is only one fantasy per guest. The second is that the fantasy must play out to its natural conclusion.  But he always says that "Fantasies rarely play out as you or I might expect."

Fantasy Island is based on the TV series by the same name, which originally starred Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize, but the director and writers have taken these stories in an entirely different direction. Would you expect any less from a Blumhouse film? These are the people, after all, who brought us Paranormal Activity (which series I love). The film has twists and turns you won't see coming, and the ending is far from predictable. 

Although I did see some negative reviews, I personally enjoyed watching it. I thought the acting was good, Michael Pena makes a good Mr. Roark.I recognized his assistant Julie (Parisa Fitz-Henley) from having seen her as Fiji in the series Midnight Texas. You might remember Jimmy O. Yang from Crazy Rich Asians, another wonderful film. 

Watch for references to the series, and just the obvious ones, such as "The plane" or Mr. Roarke's iconic white suit. It was enjoyable to watch and I do recommend it. I'm giving it 4.5 Stars.